


Paging Dr. Keith

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [53]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Illnesses, Keith helping his daddy, Recovery, and worrying others, he tried his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Paging Dr. keith. Paging Dr. Keith. We need a liter of cuteness because Shiro had fallen sick and you're the most qualified doctor in the house.





	Paging Dr. Keith

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Okay so for the shiro Dad AU?? I read it all the way through and l o v e i t. I have this memory of trying to help my sick mother when I was 4 and just kind of plopping a sopping wet towel on her head and thinking I was helping. So if I may request a vvv sick Shiro with a tiny, determined four-year-old as his doctor? He'll do great I promise and has a degree in being cute as frick okay thank you please never stop being amazing friend ily.

                “I think daddy’s dying.”

                Antok blinked several times before glancing down at the phone in his hand. As if that would help to give him a better understanding of the situation. Beside him Kolivan was watching him curiously, due to the confused expression on his face.  Ulaz had momentarily stopped his game of darts to look over at Antok.

                “Keith?” Antok finally said and that caused everyone to suddenly sit up. Ulaz grinned teasingly at his friend while Kolivan smiled softly. It had been a few weeks since Shiro had finally introduced his son to the team. After Antok had _rescued_ Keith at the zoo, Shiro had been embarrassed and called up the three of them to meet for lunch, so that they could properly meet Keith. Of course, they had all known about Keith since the day that Shiro had brought him home, but no one had met Keith until the boy was six. The four of them had been so excited to meet the little boy who had brought a smile back on their _brother’s_ face, but they were all willingly to wait until Shiro was ready.

                Especially after Kuro had returned to the family four years ago.

                Once they had finally meet Keith, these big, gnarly, tough men had melted into tiny puddles due to big blue eyes and pouty lips. It had taken a little bit for Keith to warm up to the four of them. But eventually, he had them wrapped around his fingers and they had become honorary uncles.

                Just not Keith’s _favorite_ uncle, because that of course was reserved for Kuro.

                “Yes. It’s me, uncle ‘Tok.” Antok would have previously murdered anyone who would try to call him such a nickname, but the first time Keith had said it Antok had been filled with so much pride that the nickname had stuck. However, when Ulaz had tried to use it once before, he had been given a noogie that left his hair standing straight upright for _days._

                “Hi Keith, how are you?” Antok said quietly, ignoring the teasing from his friends.

                “I’m okay but daddy’s dying!” Keith finally remembered why he had called Antok and soon enough his breathing had picked up. Antok winced, forcing himself to remain calm. It wouldn’t help Keith if he started panicking too.

                “Why do you said that kit?”

                “Because,” Keith announced as if it were obvious. “He’s all red and sweaty, and he keeps coughing real bad but he’s still asleep. And it’s almost lunch time!”

                “I see.” Antok said. He could feel his heart beginning to calm down and his breathing remained normal. Keith, however, was still breathing heavily. “Keith, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down, alright?”

                Upon hearing this, Ulaz and Kolivan’s smiles suddenly turned into frowns. Antok almost rolled his eyes at the immediate concern and worry in both of their eyes. _Mother hens._

                “But daddy – ”

                “Is going to be fine.” Antok interrupted. “Your daddy is not dying. From the sounds of it, I think he’s just sick.” Ulaz’s eyebrows shot through his hairline and Kolivan was already waving down a waiter for the bill. Antok appreciated his friend’s concern but he was slightly afraid that they were going to storm out of the restaurant and to Shiro’s house.

                “But, but, he’s _never_ sick.” Keith whispered and Antok could _hear_ his lower lip wobbling.

                “That may be so,” _It certainly sounded like Shiro._ “But everyone gets sick. Even your daddy and right now he sounds like he has a cold. You’ve had a cold before, right?”

                Keith was quiet for a few seconds. “Yeah.”         

                “And you’re all better now, right?”

                “…Yeah.”

                “So your daddy is going to be just fine. He just needs to rest and get better, like you needed to.” Antok continued while Ulaz and Kolivan pushed several bills at the waiter, ignoring his wide-eyed look before they were scooting out of their chairs. “I promise you that your daddy is going to be okay.”

                Keith was quiet again but Antok could hear shuffling. “Are you sure?”

                “Keith,” Antok said quietly, so the others couldn’t hear. “Have I ever lied to you?”

                “No.” Keith admitted and Antok smiled.

                “Then I promise he’ll be okay. Is there anyone else there to watch you right now? Or is it just you and your dad?” Antok asked. Ulaz was trying to signal for Antok to give him the phone, to which Antok ignored and headed for Kolivan’s car.

                “Well, Red is here to watch me.” Keith said, voice suddenly happy and Antok could hear the sound of a dog walking in the background. “Daddy’s still in bed.”

                “Okay, how would you feel if Uncle Ulaz, Kolivan and I came for a visit? And we’ll help take care of Shiro.” Antok asked, earning an eye roll from Ulaz. _As if they needed a child’s permission. They were going over there no matter what._

                “Um, yeah okay!” Keith finally said. There was more shuffling on the line when Kolivan started the car and Antok relaxed again. “Okay, I’m gonna hang up now. I’m gonna make daddy some soup.”

                “Keith, now just wait until we get there.”

                “Bye bye!” Keith chirped and then all Antok could hear was the sound of a dial tone. He pulled the phone away from his ear and blinked again. Then he met the concerned looks of Kolivan and Ulaz before sighing.

                “We might want to hurry.”

                Kolivan floored it out of the parking lot.

x.V.x

                “Keith?” Shiro mumbled tiredly. He felt much more disoriented than usual, and couldn’t even force coherent thoughts to form in his head. His entire body ached, as if he’d been hit by a bus. His nose was so stuffy that Shiro couldn’t smell a thing. His face and cheeks were burning and his entire body was drenched in sweat. It took an embarrassingly long amount of time before he realized that he was _sick._

                _I don’t get sick._

                Slowly, the door to his room opened and Shiro weakly turned his head towards the door. _Keith! He hadn’t eaten or done anything!_ Shiro’s eyes snapped open and he shot out of his covers, before hunching over when the sudden movement caused him to fall into a coughing fit.

                Shiro wheezed, feeling tears build up behind his eyes when the coughing finally subsided and he blinked to see a tiny figure clambering onto the bed. Moaning quietly from the heat radiating off his body, Shiro finally realized that it was Keith climbing onto his bed, dragging something behind him.

                “Daddy, lay down. You’re not ‘pposed to be out of bed.” Keith scolded when he saw his daddy sitting up right. Shiro was extremely dazed but very confused when Keith started shoving him back down. He was slightly mortified that he was weak enough that his six-year-old son could push him down.

                “Keith,” Shiro coughed again, earning another glare from Keith. “You need to eat and I have to help.”

                “I can get cereal daddy.  I know how and I already did.” Keith stated proudly and Shiro momentarily felt his lips twitch in a smile.

                “Honey, you shouldn’t be in here if daddy is sick. You’ll get sick too and daddy needs to call grandma or grandpa to watch you then.” Shiro tried to argue, only for Keith to stuff his blankets all around Shiro’s body. If he was hot from a fever before, Shiro was boiling under the blankets and covers now. But when he tried to tell Keith to leave it alone, he _couldn’t._ Not when Keith looked so determined and so focused.

                “I got a mask!” Keith announced proudly, and sure enough he did. He had white mask that Shiro used for work in the garage. It was much too big on him but it was being held up by hair clips against the back of Keith’s head and looked like a fairly new one. “I’ll be okay! It’s my turn to take care of you and I already called uncle ‘Tok too.”

                Shiro felt himself practically melt into his blankets. At the mention of Antok, Shiro had been relieved. He didn’t even care that Antok and probably Ulaz or Kolivan would see him in this state, because all that Shiro cared about was _someone would be here to watch Keith when he couldn’t._ He was slightly ashamed that he knew he wouldn’t be able to take care of Keith in the state that he was in, and there was nothing that frustrated Shiro more than knowing that he had failed in his job as a father.

                “Open up.”

                Shiro was suddenly brought out of his self-pity party at the sound of Keith’s voice. He looked over to see Keith was kneeling right before him, with a foldable tray in between them. On top of the tray were a bowl and a spoon and Shiro blinked, before sitting some-what upright.

                “I made you soup.” Keith’s eyes crinkled, signifying that he was smiling and Shiro grinned. However, he looked down at the bowl and his stomach lurched. The bowl was filled with water, floating pieces of left-over chicken, vegetables and an array of spices. “I know I’m not allowed to use the stove and I couldn’t find the cans of soup we had but this is what it looks like so I made it myself!”

                _It looked horrific._

_It looked disgusting._

                Shiro knew he would throw up if he ate that.

                However, one look at Keith’s big, bright eyes and smiling face and Shiro was a goner. Instead, he beamed and opened his mouth for Keith to put in a spoonful. And if Shiro’s eyes watered as he forced himself to swallow every spoonful, Keith was oblivious to it all.

x.V.x

                The second time that Shiro woke up, it was to the fact that he almost couldn’t breathe.

                He opened his eyes, only to see darkness. Then he felt something wet trickling down his face and when he opened his mouth, his mouth was suddenly filled with _water._ Spluttering, Shiro coughed and hacked when the water aggravated his throat and the wet cloth was removed from his head. Shiro continued to cough for a few more minutes before he looked over to see Keith staring up at him earnestly with a bowl of water and a wet facecloth.

                “Keith?” Shiro asked when the coughing subsided.

                “You have a fever!” Keith frowned. “And I ‘member you did this for me when I had a fever, so I cooled down.” Once again, Keith’s face was filled with so much pride that Shiro felt his strength withering. Eventually, he was lying back down and Keith scooted closer.

                Shiro winced when a large splash of water landed on his bed, soaking his sheets. He breathed in deeply, bracing for impact when Keith dipped the cloth back into the bowl and Shiro closed his eyes.

                He almost jumped when the wet face cloth was slapped back onto his face and Shiro held his breath. He hoped that Keith was going to remove it soon, as it was _drenching_ his face, hair and neck. However, after a few seconds Shiro was beginning to think that Keith was going to leave it on his face. Quickly, Shiro peeled off the cloth and wiped his face.

                “Daddy, no, you have to leave it on so it’ll cool you down!” Keith argued, causing Shiro to sigh.

                “Baby,” Shiro said hoarsely and Keith turned his full attention to Shiro. “Have uncle Antok and the others arrived yet?”

                “No.” Keith said. “They called and said they’ll be here in an hour, because of traffic.”

                “Okay.” Shiro handed the cloth back to Keith. “Sweetheart, you should wring out the towel a bit and dab, remember? You don’t want it too wet and put it on the forehead because that’s the hottest part.”

                Keith nodded, face scrunched up in determination as he wrung the towel out. Wearily, Shiro closed his eyes and this time the towel was still too wet (but not drenched) but Keith’s hands were gentle as he wiped Shiro’s forehead.

                Soon Shiro fell into a blissful sleep.

x.V.x

                The next time _Dr. Keith_ woke Shiro up it was to change out of his stinky clothes.

                The clothes that Keith had brought Shiro were an old pair of pajamas for his _mother_ whenever she visited. Shiro had decided to just sleep in his boxers, convincing Keith he needed to cool down everything.

x.V.x

                _Dr. Keith_ had tried to take Shiro’s prosthetic off and it result in his fingers getting stuck.

                Shiro was dizzy enough that Keith’s crying sounded like _4 Keith’s crying._ However, he was quick to help Keith and kiss the hurt away.

                Thankfully, he was able to remove the prosthetic fully and Keith could rub the stump.

x.V.x

                The last time that Shiro woke up was when he realized that the blinds weren’t closed but that it was _dark_ out. His eyes snapped open and he scrambled out of bed despite his cooling fever and weak limbs. His mind was racing and all he could worry about was Keith.

                “Whoa. What are you doing out of bed?” Shiro felt two hands steading him when he stumbled out of his room. The person who caught him had stopped Shiro from face planting.  He looked up to see Kolivan and Ulaz looking down at him.

                “Keith?” Shiro croaked and Ulaz tsked while Kolivan smiled.

                “He’s fine. We got here about eight hours ago, just after twelve-thirty.” Ulaz explained and Shiro slumped with relief. Ulaz grunted at the increase of weight but luckily Kolivan hooked and arm under Shiro to help. “He was trying to do laundry and had dumped a whole container of soap into the washer. Antok spent the next two hours cleaning it out, so no you won’t have a flood of bubbles the next time you do laundry.”

                “We changed your seats too. They were soaked. You were quite delirious from your fever that you kept mumbling about a certain Doctor Keith who needed to watch cartoons.” Kolivan added and Shiro couldn’t tell if the heat in his face was from the fever or embarrassment. Suddenly he wanted to bury himself into the ground.

                “Keith?” Shiro asked again as he was helped back towards his room. They passed by another figure in the hallway, and Shiro blinked when he saw Keith sleeping soundly in Antok’s arms. Keith looked exhausted but content in Antok’s arms and Shiro couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

                “Thanks you guys.” Shiro mumbled as he was helped back into bed and the others crowded in the room.

                “Of course. We’d do anything for you captain.” Antok said quietly and Shiro grinned at the old nickname.

                “You seriously need to learn to ask for help. Seriously, making your son call us and scare us like that.” Ulaz scolded, but there wasn’t any anger in his voice and Shiro blinked tiredly.

                “Yes, it was a bit alarming when he thought you were dying.” Antok added causing Shiro to _giggle._

                “He’s dramatic.” He slurred and Kolivan snorted.

                “Sounds like a certain father of his.”

                “Hey!”

                “Get some sleep. You and Keith are tired and we’ll stay through the weekend.” Kolivan said suddenly and Shiro burrowed back down into the covers. Quickly, he whined and reached his one arm out towards Antok. Everyone was confused until Antok had settled Keith down next to Shiro and Shiro curled around the boy protectively. Ulaz was taking pictures in the background, and no one minded at all.

                The group began to file out of the room, hoping to let the father and son rest as much as they could together. Antok turned back to his old captain and his brother, watching as Keith unconsciously snuggled into Shiro. Shiro blinked sleepily as if realizing they were being watched and smiled.

                “’Tok, you don’t have to wear your mask in this house.” With that he was fast asleep again, snoring and Antok was left to touch the mask on his face. Quietly, he shut the door behind him, with a smile on his face.

                So, he pulled the mask off.

               


End file.
